How Many More Fish Should I Get?

[XPANDA]

hi, i have a 20 gallon tank with one male betta, 5 cardinal tetras, one gibbiceps pleco and 2 catfish (not sure what type but are about 2.5inches long each). the tank is pretty well planted and all the fish are getting on swimmingly so far! The tank still looks kind of empty but im also fully aware of the dangers of overstocking. anyone with any advice or similar experience let me know. Thanks.

 

[lilfishie]

how long has the tank been setup? the plecs will grow over 18 inch so you either need a much bigger tank or to rehome them which will be easier whilst there small, do the catfish look like corys? how long have you had the fish together?

 

[XPANDA]

the tank has been set up for about one month, after one week of adding chemicals to promote bacteria etc i added the betta and the cardinal tetras and two weeks after that ive added the plec and the catfish. the guy at the aquarium said the gibbiceps plec would be fine in my tank, however if it starts getting too big i will donate him to someone!

 

[Musho3210]

uhh, no, gibbiceps (sailfin) grow just as big as commons. Stop listening to the money over life lfs.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

It's hard to advise you further without knowing what the cat fish are...if they are corydoras then they should be in a slightly bigger group (like 5). If they are something else I can't really give you advice since I haven't studied up on catfish.

If the catfish aren't corys (i.e. if they aren't a species that need more buddies) then I would consider getting another schooling fish with a different body shape than the cardinals to add some variety. Harlequin Rasboras might be nice, or some Lemon Tetras.

I will caution you however that keeping a Betta with other fish can be dangerous for the Betta / other fish. Many fish like to nip at the long flowing fins of a Betta, and some Bettas can be rather nasty towards other fish as well.